Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File S. 29,132, John Eells, Conn.

SERVICE
NUMBER
Conn.
Ells, John
S. 29,132
CONTENTS

21. 3 55 Massachusetts
John Ellis
of Berkshire in the State of Mass who was a Drummer in the Comp. commanded by Captain Ellis of the Regt. commanded by Col. Sage in the Cont. time for 16 Mos.
Not 4 Mos
Inscribed on the Roll of Mass at the rate of 58 Dollars 56 Cents per annum. to commence on the 4th day of March, 1831.
Certificate of Pension issued the 13. day of Sept. 1833 and due to H. W. Bishop Senex
Arrears to the 4th of Apr. '33  $175.68 Sem-ant. allowance ending 1/1 No. '34  58.56 $234.24
Revolutionary Claim, filed June 7, 1832.
Recorded by G. Little Clerk. Book E. Vol. 4. Page 21.
81 Berkshire

John Bell, Linnosius Application in Prussia
13.984

Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
County of Berkshire, ss.
ON this 12 th day of  October A. D. 1832 personally appeared in open Court, before the Honorable WILLIAM P. WALKER, Judge of the Court of Probate, within and for said County of Berkshire, now sitting. John  Ells a resident of the town of Seneca — in the County of Berkshire and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, aged seventy nine years, who being first duly sworn according to law, doth, on his oath, make the following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the act of Congress, passed June 7, 1832.
That he entered the service of the United States under the following named officers, and served as herein stated. In the month of May, 1776 at Middletown in the state of Connecticut he enlisted into the company of capt Edward Ells of said Middletown which company was attached to the Regiment commanded by Colonel Comfort Sage of said Middletown . he enlisted for the term of six months . He marched with said company to New Haven in the state of Connecticut where he went aboard of a vessel & sailed to New York & then said company joined said Regiment, which was attached to the Brigade commanded by one General Wadsworth of Poughkeepsie in the state of Connecticut — While he was stationed there one capt Wallace commander of a British ship went up the Hudson river . This ship was fired upon by the American troops both on the New York & New Jersey shores . While he was there the British troops took Long Island and the Regiment commanded by Colonel Sage was ordered to Governor's Island . He marched with the Regiment. The Regiment staid on Governor's Island till the British had taken possession of Long Island . Brats was sent out to take our Regiment & other troops from Governor's Island . When the troops were coming across from said last mentioned Island the British fired at him from a fort called Red Hook but he thinks. The Regiment landed at New York where he lay till he was ordered

with the Regiment to which he belonged to a place called Frogs-point. One or two Regiments were ordered there at the same time in order to prevent the landing of the British Boats. While there the Enemy landed above & their troops were ordered to retreat. Col. Heat was commanded of one of the Regiments, stationed at Frogs-point. He marched on his retreat thro' an orchard and was taken with some of his troops by the Hessians. The Regiment commanded by Col. Sage was obliged to fight their way thro' to Harlem. After he had passed the Enemy and the troops met General Washington - on one occasion he distinctly recollects - viz - when Col. Sage met General Washington and was passing a salute the General took off his square hat & hitting it on his knee with considerable violence it fell from his hand & Colonel Sage picking it up brushed from it the dust & handed it to the General. The General appeared very much displeased & the applicant supposes that when the General raised his hat from his head his feelings were those of exasperation and not of respect. A brief explanation took place between the General & the Colonel. He retreated to Harlem where the troops lay several weeks. An Entrenchment was made from Harlem to the Hudson-river. The Militia came in & a great number of troops were here collected. While at Harlem he saw General Washington. After remaining at Harlem some two or three weeks he marched with his Regiment & Brigade over Kingsbridge where his Regiment was ordered to a place then called Mile-square. The other troops of the Brigade were ordered out towards East-River as a guard. He remained at Mile-square several

days. The troops were then ordered up to White plains. The order came at the fore- part of the evening, and the march of the troops was made in the night. The fore- part of the next day the troops reached White plains, and encamped north of the court house west of the road. After the lapse of six or eight days, General Howe if he recollects came with a party of the British up to White plains, and made an attack upon the American troops, a little south of the court house, and being unable to march thro' the American troops, he turned towards the North or Hudson River. After a few days General Washington marched with most of the troops as this applicant supposes in pursuit of General Howe. The regiment to which the said applicant belonged was left behind to keep guard. He went from White plains to a place called Phillips manor where he staid some time and then marched to a place called Crimpton, as he thinks, where he was dismissed, his term of Enlistment having expired. He returned home. His father died while out on this tour, and he removed with his family to the Parish of Marlborough in the town of Colechester in the state of Connecticut. While residing at Colechester, and the year before the fort at Groton was taken, the year he does not recollect, he was drafted for the term of three months, and was attached to a com- pany commanded as he thinks by one Capt. Shaw, at any rate Elijah Buel of Marlborough.

was a Lieutenant in said company & one Chan- bulin was S er Lieut or Ensign. He was marched and joined the company at Groton. The colonel who had the command he does not recollect. The duty which the troops to which he belonged performed was to keep guard. They marched every morning to the fort. The British vessels were continually passing & repassing on the sound. Major Sedgwick if he correctly recol- lects had then the command of the fort. He served the term of his enlistment and was dismissed. The year following while residing in said Connecticut. The enemy attacked and burnt New London. He volunteered to w th the enemy and was on service one week. The name of the capt. who commanded the company to which he was attached he does not recollect. The above named Buel was an officer in the company but whether he served as captain or lieutenant he is not certain. When he reached New- London the enemy had left the city. The dead however was not buried nor had the flames of the conflagration been extinguished. The day after we reached there the funeral of Major Sedgwick was attended. who was killed at the fort. At this time the British lay off in the harbor. After the British had left the shore, or had in a great measure dispersed, he returned home. The troops or militia which were out on this town were ordered or stationed at different points in & about the city & the whole scene was attended with so much hurry and confusion that he is not able to recollect with clearness many events which took

place. - He with others of the militia staid as long as the officers who had the duty thought necessary. - He was born on 20 th day of July 1753. at Middletown in the state of Connecticut. - There was a record of his age in his father's family bible, which he has transcribed into his own bible now at his dwelling house. - There is probably a record of his age on the records of the church in town or city of Middletown. - At the times he entered the service, he resided at Middletown & Colchester as he has stated in this declaration. - He removed from Colchester aforesaid to Stockbridge in said county of Berkshire. - He resided in Stockbridge seven or eight years and then moved to Berlin in the state of Connecticut, where he resided about ten years and in 1824 removed to Seneca his place of present residence & has then resided ever since. - He was chaste & voluntee as before in this declaration stated. - He does not recollect that he ever received a written discharge. - He was usually dismissed at the expiration of his terms of service. - He always served as drummer and while he received a warrant or any thing of the character of a commission he does not recollect. - He is known to the Rev d Samuel Shepard - Joseph Tucke - Charles Lord - Quinck Calleb Hyde - Daniel Williams - Henry W. Bishop - George Tucke & James W. Robbins Esquires who reside in his present neighborhood & who can testify to his character for veracity and as ever since when in my way are in was

their belief of her services as a soldier of the revolution. She recollects the name of no surviving witness who can be found except Shadrach Hurlbut of Pittsfield in said County of Berkshire whose deposition is hereto attached & who served in the same company with him in his first Expedition as a sife and who was with him during the whole of said Expedition -

He hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension or annuity, except the present, and declares that his name is not on the pension roll of the agency of any State
John Ellis
Sworn to, and subscribed, the day and year aforesaid.
W. P. Walker J. Probate.
We Samuel Shepard a Clergyman, residing in the Senox in The County aforesaid and Charles Sedgwick residing in Said Senox hereby certify, that we are well acquainted with John Ellis who has subscribed and sworn to the above declaration; that we believe him to be seventy nine years of age; that he is reputed and believed, in the neighborhood where he resides, to have been a soldier of the revolution, and that we concur in that opinion.
Samuel Shepard Charles Sedgwick
Sworn and subscribed, the day and year aforesaid.
W. P. Walker J. Probate
And the said Court do hereby declare their opinion, after the investigation of the matter, and after putting the interrogatories, prescribed by the War Department, that the above named applicant was a revolutionary soldier, and served as he states And the Court further certifies, that it appears to them that Samuel Shepard who signed the preceding certificate is a Clergyman, resident in the town of Senox in the County of Berkshire and Commonwealth of Massachusetts and that Charles Sedgwick who has also signed the same, is a resident in the town of Senox in the County of Berkshire and Commonwealth of Massachusetts and is a credible person, and that their statement is entitled to credit.
W. P. Walker J. Probate
I, HENRY W. BISHOP, Register of the Court of Probate within and for the County of Berkshire in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, do hereby certify that the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said Court, in the matter of the application of John Ellis for a pension.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal of office of said Court of Probate, this Seventh day of October in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and thirty two
Henry W. Bishop - Register of Probate

John Ellis Mass
Dummer 16 Months
16-16 06
May 23 1835
P. 405
13984 \begin{array}{r} 36.16 \\ 21.96 \\ 26.56 \\ 19.96 \\ \hline 117.12 \\ 58.56 \\ \hline \end{array}
H. W. Bishop & Lenox Mass

BRIEF in the case of John Tills 60. of Berkshire in the State of Mass (Act 7th June, 1832.)
 1. Was the declaration made before a Court or a Judge? Open Court  2. If before a Judge, does it appear that the applicant is disabled by bodily infirmity?  3. How old is he? 79  4. State his service, as directed in the form annexed. 
   Period. Duration of Service. Rank. Names of General and Field Officers under whom he served.   Years, Months, Days. As a Gen.     May In 1776 enlisted 6 Drummer Private Col Tills Col Sage   does not recollect the year 3 Drummer Col Shaw   was drafted the year following volunteered 7 " does not rem. Col nor Col  
5. In what battles was he engaged? Battle at Harlem.
6. Where did he reside when he entered the service? Middleton Comm th
7. Is his statement supported by living witnesses, by documentary proof, by traditional evidence, by incidental evidence, or by the rolls? Traditional one living witness
8. Are the papers defective as to form or authentication? and if so, in what respect? The papers are not attached agreeably to the regulation the witness not credible
I certify that the foregoing statement and the answers agree with the evidence in the case above mentioned.
George Taylor
Examining Clerk.

29 132 Rev. INVALID.  am
Jan'y - 26, 1904, Hist Dr. A. W. Graven San Francisco Calif
File No. 29, 132
John Eells Dummer River War
Act: June 1 st 89 th
Index: — Vol. 2 , Page 121
[Arrangement of 1870.]

Shadrach Hurlbut's Disposition

I Shadrach Hurlbert of Pittsfield, in the County of Berkshire & Commonwealth of Massachusetts, a member of the Society or Community called Shakers, aged seventy four years, do testify & say, that I am well acquainted with John Ells, now of Arnol, in the County of Litchfield, Commonwealth of Conn. that in the year 1776. & for several years previous thereto we both resided in Middle- town, in the State of Connecticut - that in the latter part of June of said year 1776. I & the said John Ells, there enlisted for the term of six months. I the said Shadrach as a Fifer, & the said John Ells as a Drummer in the Company, commanded by Captain Edward Ells of said Middletown, in Colonel Comfort Sage's Regiment & General Wadsworth's Brigade, in the Connecticut State Troops, as I suppose, then called "the new Levies" - about the 1 st July of said year marched to New Haven, from thence we proceeded by water to New York, where we landed the 3 rd day of July, being the day after the Declaration of Independence, - remained in New York, a few weeks, was then ordered to Governor's Island, opposite the Battery, to defend the Fort there, where we remained five or six weeks, when the British having taken Long Island, we retreated to New York, & encamped there in a place called Bull's Head - About three weeks thereafter the British Shipping entered East River & our Regiment was ordered to an en- trenchment on the Bank of the River in the night time & remained until near day-break when we were marched out of the City, North

about two miles, the baggages then were erected two were marched back to the intrenchments when we retreated to the Road & then proceeded Northward to Haldarn. — on the next day we there had an engagement with the British & they the British were driven back — we soon after marched to the White Plains, where we had another Battle & the British retreated — we then marched to a place about twenty or twenty five miles north of White Plains called Camp-Pond — as I think, where we took up our winter quarters, and  where we re- mained until the 1 st January 1778. when our Company was discharged.
And I do further testify & say that the said John Pells continued a Drummer in said Company during the whole of the said term & performed the services above said & that he was discharged on the day aforesaid, returned with me to said Middletown immediately thereafter. — And further the said Deponent saith not
Shadrach Lumbert
Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Berkshire ss. September 28 th 1832. Then
Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Berkshire, ss. I, HENRY W. BISHOP, Register of the Court of Probate in and for said County, do hereby certify that George I. Meha Esquire, before whom the annexed deposition was taken is one of the Justices of the Peace within and for said County, duly and regularly appointed, and that I am well ac- quainted with his hand writing, and have no doubt that the Sig- nature annexed to said deposition is genuine.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affix- ed the seal of said Court this second day of October
A. D. 1832.
Henry W. Bishop, Register of Probate

about two miles, the baggages then proceeded We were marched back to the entrenchments when we retreated to the Road & then proceeded Northerly to Hailam. on the next day we there had an engagement with the British & they the British were driven back - we soon after marched to the White Plains. where we had another Battle & the British retreated. we then marched to a place about twenty or twenty five miles north of White Plains called Camp Pond as I think where we took up our winter quarters and  where we re- mained until the 1 st January 1778. when our Company discharged.
And I do further testify & say that the said John Pells continued a Drummer in said Company during the whole of the said term & performed the services aforesaid & that he was discharged on the day aforesaid returned with me to said Middletown immediately thereafter. — And further the said Deposition is true.
Shadrach Hurlbert
Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Berkshire ss. September 28 th 1832. Then the said Shadrach Hurlbert personally appeared & being by me sworn, solemnly affirmed that the above & foregoing Depo- sition by him subscribed is true. —
Before me George J. Stearns Justice of the Peace
Berkshire ss. June 4 th 1833 I do further certify that said Shadrach Hurlbert, the above Deposition is a man of truth & veracity & a credible witness George J. Stearns Justice of the Peace

13984 John Ellis Map
A. W. Bishop Esq. Lenox Mass

BRIEF objections to the admission of Pension Claims, of which those answered in the negative, in red ink, will apply to the claim of John Gells which require further proof or explanation.
I. Does the declaration show where the applicant resides? yy II. Did the declarant make the declaration in the county where he resides? yy III. If the applicant did not make the declaration in the county where he resides, is there any reason assigned for his not doing so? IV. Has the declarant mentioned the period or periods of the war when he served? yy V. * Has he mentioned with precision the length of his service, and the different grades in which he served, in language so definite as to enable the department to determine to what amount of pension he is entitled? VI. Has he given the names of the officers under whom he served, in conformity with the regulations? yy VII. Has he made a relinquishment of every claim to any other pension than the one under the Act of June 7, 1832? yy VIII. Has the Court given their opinion? yy IX. Has the Clerk given his certificate? yy X. Is the Clerk's seal affixed? And if so, has it a device or inscription by which it can be distinguished from any other seal? yy

XI. Has the applicant obtained the evidence of a clergyman and another respectable citizen as to their belief respecting his age and the general belief in his neighborhood relative to his revolutionary service? yes
XII. If the clergyman's affidavit has not been produced, is there any reason assigned for not obtaining it?
XIII. If the applicant has no documentary evidence, and has not obtained the testimony of at least one living witness, has he stated in his declaration that such proof cannot be had?
XIV. † If the applicant's name is not found on the rolls of military service, has he produced a witness or witnesses as to his service? yes
If he has produced direct proof as to service, has the magistrate who administered the oath, certified to the credibility of the witness or witnesses? no
Has the proper officer certified to the official character and signature of the magistrate as the regulations direct? yes
XV. Does it appear from any of the papers that the witness was in such a situation, or of such an age, as to have a personal knowledge of the applicant's service? yes
XVI. ‡ Are the papers authenticated as the regulations direct? no
XVII. Are the seven interrogatories prescribed by the War Department answered satisfactorily? And, if not, which of them is not so answered?
EXPLANATORY NOTES.
* QUERE V. In a case where the applicant cannot, by reason of the loss of memory, state precisely how long he served, he should amend his declaration by making an affidavit in the following words:
"Personally appeared before me, the undersigned, a Justice of the Peace, &c. A. B. who, being duly sworn, deposeth and saith, that, by reason of old age, and the consequent loss of memory, he cannot swear positively as to the precise length of his service, but according to the best of his recollection he served not less than the periods mentioned below, and in the following grades; For _____ year _____ months, and _____ days, I served as a _____ For _____ months and _____ days, I served as a _____; and for such service I claim a pension."

It is important in all cases to determine with precision the period for which each applicant served, and the particular rank he held, as the law directs the pension to be paid according to the grade of the pensioner and the length of his service. The use of the phrase about three or four months is too indefinite, and all such qualifying expressions are objectionable. Some persons who apply for pensions merely state they served two years in the militia, &c. without specifying the tours; the names of the officers, and other particulars respecting their service. This form of a declaration is highly objectionable. It must in every case be clearly shewn under what officers the applicant served; the duration of each term of engagement; the particular place or places where the service was performed; that the applicant served with an embodied corps called into service by competent authority; that he was either in the field or in garrison; and for the time during which the service was performed, he was not employed in any civil pursuit.
QUERE XIV. Proof of Service.
In a case where the name of the applicant is not found on the records of the Department, he must prove his service by two credible witnesses, who are required to set forth in their affidavits the time of the claimants entering the service, and the time and manner of his leaving the same, as well as the regiment, company, and line to which he belonged. The magistrate who may administer the oaths must certify to the credibility of the witnesses, and the official character and signature of the magistrate must be certified by the proper officer, under his seal of office.
QUERE XVI. Mode of authenticating papers.
In every instance where the certificate of the certifying officer who authenticates the papers is not written on the same sheet of paper which contains the affidavit, or other paper authenticated, the certificate must be attached thereto by a piece of tape or narrow ribbon, the ends of which must pass under the seal of office of the certifying officer, so as to prevent any paper from being improperly attached to the certificate.
In every case where the clerk of the court, or other certifying officer, has no public seal of office, the certificate of a member of congress, proving the official character and signature of the certifying officer, should accompany the papers.